Skip to Content
Information
Space announcement: BMC provides limited support for this version of the product. As a result, BMC no longer accepts comments in this space. If you encounter problems with the product version or the space, contact BMC Support.

Key specification

The Key Specification screen is used to specify the fully concatenated key of a segment occurrence that you want to retrieve or create. This screen can be invoked from any of the following four screens within the Browse or Edit function:

  • From the Data Base Location screen with the K, KU, or KI line command or the INSERT primary command (See to Selecting a Segment).
  • From the Formatted screen with the KEY, INSERT, or REPEAT primary command (See to Common-edit-primary-commands and Common-formatted-unformatted-primary-commands).
  • From the Unformatted screen, with the KEY, INSERT, or REPEAT primary command.
  • From the Index screen with the KEY primary command or the Insert, Key, Repeat, or Repeat All line command. The KEY primary command is described on here and Line commands are described on here.

Examples of how each of these screens interacts with the Key Specification screen are described in Specification Examples.

Key Specification Screen

image2021-3-14_23-49-52.png

Segment to Retrieve

Displays the segment name of the target segment type and its description from the segment/layout cross reference data set. The last segment type shown in the screen body is referred to as the target segment type. If you used a KEY, INSERT, or REPEAT to enter the Key Specification screen, the target segment type is the same as the current segment type. If you used a line command, the target segment type is the same as that of the segment on the line where the line command was entered. The target segment is always the segment that you want to retrieve, insert or repeat.

Level Number/Data-Name

The first line in the first column of each section starts with the literal LVL and the hierarchical level number within the primary database of the segment type corresponding to that section. Next to the level number is the segment name.

The remaining lines in the first column of each section display the segment layout level numbers and data-names that define the key fields for that section’s segment type. Where possible, File-AID for IMS shows the level numbers and data-names from the segment layout that defines the segment type. If a valid segment type cannot be found or determined, File-AID for IMS generates a generic key field name in the format *segment-name KEY*, where segment-name is the name of the segment type for that section. File-AID for IMS also assigns a level number of 01 to generated key field names. The Key Specification Screen, is an example of key field name generation.

FORMAT

The Format column serves the same purpose on the Key Specification screen as on the Formatted screen. See Formatted Screen.

RO

Used by File-AID for IMS to retrieve, insert, or repeat the target segment. The SSAs used in the DL/I call are formatted using the relational operator specified for each segment type. Following are the valid relational operators:

EQ or =

Equal

GT or >

Greater than

LT or <

Less than

GE or >= or =>

Greater than or equal to

LE or <= or =<

Less than or equal to

NE or Ø = or = Ø

Not equal

UQ

Unqualified

With the exception of UQ, the relational operators are similar to the ones used when coding an SSA in an IMS application program. File-AID for IMS uses the specified relational operator when issuing its DL/I calls. The UQ relational operator is unique to File-AID for IMS. When UQ is specified for a segment type, File-AID for IMS formats an unqualified SSA for that segment type.

Upon entry to the Key Specification screen, File-AID for IMS preformats the RO column for each segment type with either an EQ or a UQ as follows:

FIELD VALUE


EQ

When a segment type is in the current hierarchical path and in the hierarchical path to the target segment.

UQ

When a segment type is in the hierarchical path to the target segment but not in the current hierarchical path.

Upon entry to the Key Specification screen, the current values of each segment type in the current hierarchical path are preformatted in the Field Value column. When segment types are in the hierarchical path to the target segment but not in the current hierarchical path, Field Value is preformatted with blanks (HEX 40s).

Up to 30 characters or 10 hexadecimal positions can be entered in Field Value. The valid syntax to specify key values is the same as described in Field Value. File-AID for IMS validates the length of the key value entered against the key length shown in the Format column for that line. If the value entered is shorter than the Format column’s key length, File-AID for IMS pads the value with blanks (HEX 40s). If the value entered is longer, an error is returned.

In the following situations, File-AID for IMS deviates from its normal relational operator and Field Value pre-formatting:


    • When the INSERT primary command is used to insert a target segment type that is not in the current hierarchical path, the target’s relational operator is set to EQ and its key field to blanks.
    • Non-keyed segment types always have UQ as a relational operator and the literal *** NON-KEYED SEGMENT *** in the Field Value column.
    • When the Key Specification screen is entered from the Data Base Location screen with a K, KU, or KI line command, the RO column is set to EQ for all segment types displayed. The key values shown for each segment type are taken directly from the Key Value column on the Data Base Location screen. See to Selecting a Segment for more detail on how File-AID for IMS maintains key values on the Data Base Location screen.

The last line in the screen body always contains an END OF KEY literal.

This section provides more information  about the following topics:

 

Tip: For faster searching, add an asterisk to the end of your partial query. Example: cert*

BMC Compuware File-AID for IMS 21.01